Apparatus and method for trade aggregation of trade allocations and settlements

ABSTRACT

A post-trade aggregation system includes an allocation middleware interface, which interacts with data interface to allocate and settle trades. An order management system receives a trade order on behalf of a customer and causes apportionment of the trade into a plurality of smaller orders to be transmitted to a plurality of order destinations directly (e.g. via the FIX protocol). The post-trade aggregation system includes an allocation middleware interface which receives the individual trade executions from the plurality of order destination and compresses them into a single average-priced block. The allocation middleware interface then transmits the single average-priced block to be cleared by a designated clearing agent and allocates the single average-priced block into one or more custodian accounts.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional and claims the benefit of priority toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/825,148 filed Jun. 28, 2010, whichis a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/165,322, filed Jun. 30, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No.8,341,067, issued Dec. 25, 2012, which claims the benefit of priorityfrom International Application No. PCT/US09/49199, filed Jun. 30, 2009,the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic trading offinancial instruments and, more particularly, to an improved system andmethod for post-trade aggregation processing of executed instruments.

Customers often execute trades with multiple brokers for a number ofreasons, such as to find liquidity, adhere to best execution, and reducemarket impact. Such customers also trade on behalf of many custodialcustomer accounts, resulting in numerous trade allocations on any giventrading day. With existing securities order processing and routingsystems, such trade allocations may incur substantial custodial“per-trade” ticket fees, which the custodial banks charge in order toprocess, settle, and affirm executions that come in from the variousbrokers who execute the trades.

Heretofore, the process of trade compression has been limited toexecutions done on exchanges and electronic communication networks(ECNs) where the brokerage firm itself is a direct member of thatexchange or ECN. Additionally, existing aggregation processing systemsalso incorporate order management systems, thereby requiring customerswho want to reduce the “per-trade” ticket fees through post-tradeaggregation to either purchase an entirely new system or pay theadditional ticket costs. Thus, there exists a need for a systemcompatible with the customers' existing technologies which allows themto compress trades executed across multiple brokers or orderdestinations internally. The present disclosure contemplates a new andimproved order aggregation and clearing system, for securities and otherfinancial instruments which overcomes the above-referenced limitationsand others.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, a customer's order management system sends and receives atrade order from the customer to a financial instrument trading system.The financial instrument trading system includes an order staging andoptimization interface. The order management system, and/or orderstaging and optimization interface, includes means for apportioning theorder into a plurality of smaller orders. The order management systemand/or staging and optimization interface then communicates theplurality of smaller orders to a plurality of order destinations. Theindividual executions or fills from the plurality of order destinationsare delivered back to the order management system and then to theallocation middleware where the individual executions are compressedinto a single average-priced block for clearing on an aggregated basis.

In a further aspect, an apparatus includes a computer-based informationhandling system having a storage device storing instructions to beexecuted by the computer-based information handling system to receive aplurality of individual financial instrument trade executions from theplurality of order destinations, combine the plurality of individualfinancial instrument trade executions into a single average-pricedblock, and deliver the single average-priced block and allocationinstructions to a clearing agent for delivery to custodial agents.

In another aspect, a method for trading financial instruments isprovided wherein a trade order is prepared and apportioned into aplurality of smaller trade orders. The plurality of smaller trade ordersare communicated to a plurality of order destinations. For each of theplurality of smaller trade orders, the individual trade order executionsare received from the plurality of order destinations, combined into asingle large average-priced block, and are delivered to a post-tradeaggregation system for combining the individual trade order executionsinto a single average-priced block and clearing the individual tradeorder executions on an aggregated basis.

One advantage of the present disclosure resides in the streamlining ofworkflow and technology. For example, customers, trading firms, andexecuting brokers can use their existing management systems for placingtrade orders in combination with the post trade aggregation system andmethod of the present disclosure, which automates the clearing,delivery, and billing processes, thereby reducing the costs associatedwith manual processing and human-error reconciliation.

Another advantage of the present disclosure resides in the ability tofacilitate trade compression across multiple executing brokers, whileavoiding the need for customers to incur higher custodial costsassociated with executing trades across multiple brokers. Utilizingmultiple brokers and execution venues may increase liquidity andminimize market impact, which in turn can affect portfolio performancefor the customer's end clients.

Another advantage of the present disclosure is that it allows thecustomer to seek best execution of a trade without being hindered byhigher costs. The present invention also allows the customer to copewith the fragmentation of the market and trade with more varieddestinations by reducing the costs of doing so.

Yet another advantage of the present disclosure is that it may result inlower costs for customers for a number of reasons, including fewercustodial tickets, fewer allocation and instruction messaging costs,fewer back-office trade-breaks, and fewer personnel required to dealwith trading issues.

In a further aspect, the present disclosure provides cost savings forsell-side executing brokers since they do not have to individuallyallocate, deliver, and affirm trades directly to individual custodialaccounts and trading firms. Business workflow is improved when brokersdeliver and clear trades against one central clearing entity directly,rather than individually with multiple institutional trading firms.

Other benefits and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding ofthe preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may take form in various components and arrangements ofcomponents, and in various steps and arrangements of steps. The drawingsare only for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments and are notto be construed as limiting the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an equities trading system in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of order origination in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram outlining order execution in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating street-side clearing in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating allocation and delivery inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram outlining an exemplary method in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a further embodiment providingtrade compression for all trades in a single security for a givendestination broker, with one set of allocations for that security beingdelivered out to multiple customer accounts.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the post-trade aggregation systemand process in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure provides an improved system and method ofpost-trade aggregation of financial instruments through which ancustomer can clear, allocate, accept delivery, and affirm trades, on acompressed, average priced basis. Although described herein primarily byway of reference to financial securities or equities, it will berecognized that the present invention is amenable to all manner offinancial instrument trading including without limitation domestic andinternational trading of stocks, bonds, options, futures, funds, andother tradable tangible and intangible commodities.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram illustrating atrading system 10 for the clearing of securities trading orders, and forthe allocation and delivery of the respective shares, in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As depicted in FIG. 1, the trading system 10 may be used by a customer12, which may be, without limitation, a pension fund, mutual fund,investment manager, broker/dealer, hedge fund, or the like, and may be acustomer that trades on behalf of multiple custodial accounts. Thecustomer 12 is in communication with its order management system (OMS)14, which may be hosted, for example, on a computer-based informationhandling system of the customer 12 or of a brokerage company that buysand sells securities on behalf of the customer 12. It will be recognizedthat the order management system 14 can be any type of buy-side tradeallocation and settlement system, such as an execution management system(EMS), settlement system (SS), or other interface for placing ordersdirectly with an executing broker, including proprietary or custom-builtinterfaces. The customer 12 may communicate securities trading orders tothe OMS 14 of its institutional trading desk via a number of methods,including a telephone, a computer connected to the OMS 14 via theInternet or other communications network such as a local area network(LAN), wide area network (WAN), and so forth. The OMS 14 may be of atype that performs a number of functions, such as trade generation,order routing, and others. For ease of exposition, only a singlecustomer 12 is shown. It will be recognized that there may be any numberof customers.

An order staging system includes order staging and optimization software16 which apportions a large order into a plurality of smaller orderswith route destinations specified, which are sent to order destinations20, 22, 24, etc. Three order destinations are depicted for ease ofillustration, however, it will be recognized that there may be anynumber (N) of order destinations. Examples of order staging andoptimization software 16 are generally known in the art. Alternatively,smaller orders with route destinations specified may be passed directlyto the order destinations 20, 22, 24, etc., by the OMS 14, e.g., via theFIX protocol. Many customers already have extensive FIX connectivity inplace between their order management system and executing brokers. Thepresent development provides these customers with an independentpost-trade aggregation processing system which is compatible with mostcustomers' existing order management technologies.

The order destinations 20, 22, 24, etc., may be a physical exchange,electronic clearinghouse or exchange, market maker, electronic crossingnetwork (ECN), algorithm desk, program desk, alternative trading system(ATS), or other means for matching buy and sell trades for securities orother financial instruments. The order staging and optimization software16 routes the smaller orders to the appropriate destinations.

With reference now to FIG. 2, and with continued reference to FIG. 1, aflow diagram appears outlining the order origination process using theorder staging and optimization software in accordance with the presentembodiment. In the depicted non-limiting example, the customer has anorder to execute a trade of 500,000 shares of IBM. The initial order isdivided into three smaller orders, either via order staging andoptimization software 16, or, is apportioned into three smaller ordersdirectly by OMS 14 and communicated to the order destinations 20, 22,24, etc., with route destinations specified, e.g., via the FIX protocolor other like protocol. In the example depicted in FIG. 2, the originalorder of 500,000 shares of IBM is divided into three smaller orders of150,000, 100,000, and 250,000 orders, which are routed to the orderdestinations 20, 22, and 24, respectively.

The destination brokers 20, 22, and 24 execute the trades in real timethroughout the day. Referring now to FIG. 3, with continued reference toFIG. 1, there is shown a flow diagram outlining the executions of theexemplary order illustrated in FIG. 2. The individual fills withindividual prices come back from the destinations 20, 22, and 24 to theorder staging and optimization software 16. The fills flow back in realtime to the OMS 14 from the respective brokers and order destinations.

At the end of each trading day, the executing destination brokers clearthe executions, on a block or individual basis, back to the executingbroker's designated clearing firm 26 on a broker-to-broker orfirm-to-firm basis. The broker-to-broker end-of-day clearance processmay be accomplished by a number of methods, including but not limited tocorrespondent flip, two-sided ACT lock-in, or the like, as would beunderstood by persons skilled in the art.

As best seen in FIG. 4, which illustrates the street-side,average-priced clearing process in accordance with the presentembodiment, the plurality of smaller trade orders clear in bulk (averageprice by symbol and side) with the buy-side executing broker'sdesignated clearing firm 26. The allocation middleware 18 compresses allindividual executions from the destinations used based on the tradeallocation output data from each broker and execution venue used. Theindividual executions are then compressed to a single volume-weighted,average-priced block (e.g., 500,000 shares of IBM in the depictedembodiment) based on the category or categories designated by thecustomer. The categories can be selected from common security, side,block ID, account, etc., or a combination thereof. The average-pricedblock is then paired off against the street-side executions at thedesignated clearing firm. A blended commission rate may then becalculated based on the mix of order destinations used.

It will be recognized that the allocation middleware 18 and otherfunctional modules as described herein are preferably hosted on acomputer based information handling system of the buy-side executingbroker and may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, orcombinations thereof, and may employ dedicated processing circuitry ormay share common hardware.

The destination brokers or market centers deliver trade executions backto the buy-side executing broker's central street-side clearing account26 on a broker-to-broker basis at the end of each trading day. Theallocation middleware 18 further compresses the trades into averageprice tickets for central allocation and delivery out to the custodian28. Since the destination brokers do not allocate and deliver to thecustodians directly (e.g., via OASYS), they may not know where thetrades are ultimately settling.

A custodian entity 28 holds the securities on behalf of the customer 12.The average-priced block of shares is then allocated and delivered tothe appropriate custodial accounts, 32 a, 32 b, up to 32 n of thecustomer 12. As depicted in FIG. 1, the accounts 32 a-32 n may besubaccounts under an omnibus custodial account 30 of the customer 12. Inan alternative embodiment to FIG. 1, the allocated average-priced blockof shares may be delivered directly to the custodial accounts, 32 a, 32b, up to 32 n, from the allocation middleware 18. The subaccounts maybe, for example, funds, pension funds, or other accounts managed by thecustomer 12. Three subaccounts are depicted in FIG. 1 for ease ofillustration, however, it will be recognized that there may be anynumber (n) of subaccounts.

As best seen in FIG. 5, and referring to the example illustrated inFIGS. 2 through 4, the OMS 14 sends the allocations to the custodian 26.The OMS 14 also sends block and allocation information to the middleware18, e.g., via a secure server 38. The middleware 18 then sendsallocation instructions to the designated clearing agent or broker 26,e.g., via its depository trust company (DTC). The OMS 14 allocationinformation and buy-side executing broker delivery versus payment (DVP)allocation instructions (or journal entry where the trade clearslocally, i.e., at the same institution that executed the trade) match inthe DTC ID. The clearing agent 26 then delivers the shares to thevarious subaccounts based on the allocation instructions. It will berecognized that alternative allocation programs or methods 40, such asOASYS, fixed instructions/default, percent based, fix message, filebased, API, manual, and others, may be used to communicate theallocation instructions from OMS 14 to the clearing firm 26 andallocation middleware 18. In the depicted embodiment, the middleware 18compresses the trades into a single trade of 500,000 shares of IBM at anaverage price of $70.475, resulting in a substantial reduction incustodial ticket and other costs for the customer 12. A flow chartoutlining the above-described process appears in FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a further aspect of the post-trade aggregationprocessing system and method in accordance with the present embodimentoptionally allows destination brokers to roll up and average by priceall trades in a given security for multiple (up to any number, N)customers 20 a, 20 b, up to 20 n. The trades flow back to the allocationmiddleware 18 in a single ticket, thereby reducing the probability oferrors and resulting in substantial cost savings, such as ticket, labor,trade breaks, research, labor costs, and so forth.

As depicted in FIG. 8, the order management system 14 providesallocation information to allocation middleware 18, which in turnprovides instructions to the clearing agent 26 and custodian 28. Theallocation middleware 18 can be customized to each customer's desiredspecifications. Such customizations may include, for example, type ofdata interface, aggregation scheduling, designation of brokers,execution services, clearing firms, clearing firm settings, allocationrules, market configuration, and asset configuration. This customizationenables the post-trade aggregation system to reduce costs for customersby working with their current technologies and providing an aggregationof trades to reduce post trade clearing costs.

In certain embodiments, the allocation middleware 18 can be programmedto run in simulation mode to perform an aggregation allocation withoutactually purchasing and going through the steps of clearing andsettlement. In this manner, customers can determine the costs associatedwith making certain trades without actually performing the trade. Inaddition, the allocation middleware 18 may have reporting and researchinterfaces added to the system. A reporting interface may be provided toenable the user to create various reports such as aggregation savingsreports, clearing impact reports, order fragmentation reports,transaction cost analysis reports, peer analysis reports, STP and failrate reports, error and trade break reports, and others. A researchinterface may be provided to enable the user to perform real-time andhistorical trade research to obtain such information as block ID,allocation ID, trade date, trade range, security ID, ticker, name,account, broker, broker code, status, comparisons of original recordsand aggregation records, and so forth.

Certain embodiments of the invention may be implemented as sets ofinstructions resident in the memory of a computer-based informationhandling system or other storage device of one or more computer systemsuntil required by the computer system. The set of instructions may bestored in an electronic or computer readable memory, such as a mainmemory, hard disk drive, or in a removable memory such as an opticaldisc, a magnetic media, and so forth. Further, the set of instructionscan be stored in the memory of another computer and transmitted over alocal area network or a wide area network, such as the Internet, whendesired by the user. Additionally, the instructions may be transmittedover a network in the form of an applet that is interpreted aftertransmission to the computer system rather than prior to transmission.One skilled in the art would appreciate that the physical storage of thesets of instructions or applets physically changes the medium upon whichit is stored electrically, magnetically, chemically, physically,optically, or holographically so that the medium carries computerreadable information.

The invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiments. Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon areading and understanding of the preceding detailed description. It isintended that the invention be construed as including all suchmodifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope ofthe appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A post-trade aggregation system, comprising: anallocation computer configured to: receive a plurality of individualelectronic financial instrument trade order executions from a pluralityof order destinations, each of said plurality of individual electronicfinancial instrument trade order executions clearing broker-to-brokerwith a designated clearing agent; compress the plurality of individualelectronic financial instrument trade order executions from saidplurality of order destinations into an average-priced block; andallocate the average-priced block among a plurality of custodialaccounts based on received allocation information; wherein saidplurality of individual electronic financial instrument trade orderexecutions are received from one or more data interface systems selectedfrom an order management system, an execution management system, and asettlement system; wherein said plurality of individual electronicfinancial instrument trade order executions are received via anelectronic transmission protocol.
 2. The post-trade aggregation systemof claim 1, wherein wherein said plurality of individual electronicfinancial instrument trade order executions are received in a flatcomputer file.
 3. The post-trade aggregation system of claim 1, whereinsaid electronic transmission protocol is a Financial InformationeXchange (FIX) protocol.
 4. A method of electronically trading andclearing a financial instrument, comprising: preparing an electronictrade order; electronically apportioning the electronic trade order intoa plurality of smaller electronic trade orders; electronicallycommunicating the plurality of smaller electronic trade orders among aplurality of electronic order destinations; for each of said pluralityof smaller electronic trade orders, receiving individual electronictrade order execution messages from the electronic order destination ofsaid plurality of electronic order destinations; and transmitting theindividual electronic trade order executions from said messages to apost-trade aggregation system; at said post aggregation system,compressing the received individual trade order executions from theplurality of order destinations into a single average-priced block;clearing each of the smaller electronic trade orders broker-to-brokerwith a designated clearing agent; electronically communicatingallocation information for allocating said single average-priced blockto said designated clearing agent; transmitting said singleaverage-priced block to one or more custodial investment accounts inaccordance with the allocation information; wherein said individualelectronic trade order execution messages are received from a datainterface system selected from an order management system, an executionmanagement system, and a settlement system; wherein of individualelectronic trade order execution messages are received via an electronictransmission protocol.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said individualelectronic trade order execution messages are received from the datainterface in a flat file.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein saidelectronic transmission protocol is a Financial Instrument eXchange(FIX) protocol.